Improvement in gates



M. JEPFR'IES. Gate'.

No. 201,614. Patented' Mar'ch'26, 187s.

N. PETERS, PHOTO-DTMDGRAPHER WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED"STATES fPArENTOFFion MORTEMER' JEFFnIEsQoF comms, iivninivn.`

IIVIPRQVEMEN'l IN GATES'.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 201,614, dated March 26, 1878; application filed November 19, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Moninimn J EFFRrns, of Collins, in the county of Whitley and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gates, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is to furnish a farm-gatethat shallbeeasilyopened andclosed, cheaply and easily made without hinges, capable of admittingthe passage of footmen, horses, or other farm-stock without opening the gate its full width, and provided with an auxiliaryrevolving post and a supporting-lever, in connection with a central roller, on which to move the gate back and forth in opening and closing the same.

In the drawings, A and A2 are the principal posts, inserted in the ground in the usual manner. B is the auxiliary post, having its lower end pivoted, as shown at O, to its groundpiece G, which is firmly driven or set in the earth to hold the lower end of auxiliary post B in position. Post B is held in place at its top by being pivoted at O2 to cap D, which is rmly attached to principal post A, as shown.

The body of the gate is constructed in the usual manner, being composed of longitudinal bars E, perpendicular cleats a c d, and braces F is a roller, on which the upper bar of the gate rests and moves back and forth. L is the supporting-lever, inserted between two bars, as shown. To the end of lever L two guides, I, are attached firmly and immovably, as shown at K. Between these two guides is held the roller H, on which one bar of the gate rests, the roller H being always held in position under the bar by the two guides I, one on each side of the bar. One end of support` ing-,lever L is pivoted to auxiliary revolving post B, as shown at I.l The post B is cut away, in the manner shownvin Fig. 2, sufficiently to admit a part or the whole of the thickness of lever L, which is pivoted to post B. The cutting away of post B is so done as to leave two bearings, W, one above and one below the pivoting-point P, and on opposite sides of post B, as shown. The cutting away or mortising is done obliquely across post B with an upward inclination toward the center of the gate, thereby-permitting the inner end of lever L and the part of the gate over it to be considerably raised; but the lever cannot be depressed below a horizontal position, because the bearings W will not permit.

The gate is held in position on top of roller F by means of a perpendicular cleat attached on the opposite side of post B, and all the bars of the gate, the cleat holding the gate up to post B, and yet permitting it to move freely back and forth on the rollers in opening or closing, and also permitting it to be raised with lever L to swing over snow or other obstruction.

Operation: If it is desired to open the gate for the passage of footmen or farm-stock only, the gate is pressed in the direction of the arrow until the cleats a c d are brought to the position indicated by the perpendicular dotted lines; but when wagons, carriages, &c.., are to pass through, the gate is swung in either direction by turning post B on its pivots O and Oz by the act of opening. Post B and groundpiece C are placed just far enough from post A to permit cle-at a to swing inside of post A as the gate is opened or closed.

To raise the gate to open it over snow or other obstructions, I press it in the direction of the arrow a few inches, and then, owing to the arrangement of the lever L in connection with the mortise B, as before described, the gate is readily raised until it will swing over the obstruction.

It is not intended that the weight of the gate shall constantly rest on roller H, and be supported by lever L, because the fastening of the gate to post A2 will generally relieve lever L to some extent; but lever L will at all times, when required, support a considerable portion of the weight of the gate, as well as serve as a lever for turning the gate and post B on the pivots O and O2. Lever L is therefore especially useful in supporting the weight of the gate, in permitting it to be raised, as before stated, as a lever for turning the gate and post B on the pivots of post B, and as a means of support for guides I and roller H.

It is evident that two or more supportinglevers like L may be used in the same gate, if thought necessary.

Lever L is strongly made, and its pivoted end is increased in thickness to give it additional strength.

I do not claim the broad idea or principle of constructing sliding 0r rolling gates as em-Y a mortise in the rotable-v-post B, in such man ner that the pintle of the hinge and the bottom of the mortise jointly shall prevent the bar from sagging at its outer end, so as to permit it to follow the movement of the gate when the latter is raised at its far, end, al1 substantially as described and shown.

MORTEMER JEFFRIES.`

Witnesses:

C. B. TULLEY, Jos. W. ADAIR. 

